Obesity: The Scourge of Modern Civilisation!

Monday 6th - 7th October 2008

Day One Monday 6th October

08:30 - 10:00 Registration & Tea/Coffee - Exhibitions

10:00 Welcome and Introduction - Prof. Colin Waine - Chair NOF10:10 Abbott Sponsored lecture - Prof. Dr. Luc Van Gaal10:45 Questions and Discussion10:55 Session 1 - The Biology of Obesity Chair - Dr Ashley Adamson11:00 The Adipocyte and its Many Functions - Dr Andrew Brewster - NOF11:30 Questions and Discussion11:40 Early Life Influences - Karen Jewell - Midwife - University Hospital Wales12:10 Questions and Discussion12:20 My Genes Made Me Eat That - Dr S O’Rahilly - University of Cambridge12:50 Questions and Discussion

13:00 Lunch - Exhibitions

14:00 Session 2 - Update on the co-morbidities Chair - Dr David Haslam - Clinical Director - NOF14:15 Keynote Address - Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, MD Mayo Clinic College of Medicine - USA14:50 Questions and Discussion15:00 Obesity and Dyslipidaemia - Dr Jonathan Morrell15:25 Salt and soft drinks - a hidden link to obesity - Dr Feng He, Senior Research Fellow in Blood Pressure Unit of St George’s, University of London 15:45 Roche Sponsored lecture Mapping Obesity - Prof Colin Waine 16:10 Questions & Discussion16:20 Coffee/Tea - Exhibition16:50 Session 3 - Research News from the North Chair - Jane DeVille-Almond - Vice Chair NOF16:55 Obesity, Pregnancy & Physical Activity - Dr Ruth Bell17:10 The Early Origins of Obesity: The Gateshead Millennium Study - Dr Ashley Adamson17:25 Balance-It Getting the Balance Right - Dr Anne Dale, Kirsty Brown, Dr Lucy Walker 17:40 Food & the Obesogenic Environment of Young Adults - Dr Amelia Lake17:55 Adiposity, Diet & Activity: The Transition from Childhood into Adulthood - Alison Hossack18:10 The National Obesity Research Awards 2007 - A Pilot Study Of Dietetic Telephone Support Helpline - Juliet Miller18:25 Questions and Discussions18:30 Drinks & Canapés Reception and Awards Ceremony 2008 NOF Best Practice Awards 2008- Karan Thomas The National Obesity 2008 Research Awards - Winner to be announced - Dr Ashley Adamson All delegates are invited to attend the drinks reception and awards ceremony at the RCP in the exhibition halls.

Day Two Tuesday 7th October

08:00 - 08:30 Registration & Coffee/Tea - Exhibitions

08:30 Session 4 - Current Issues Chair - Anne Diamond 08:35 Are We Choosing Health? Healthcare/Audit Commission Report - Jude Williams09:05 Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives - The Implementations - Will Cavendish - Dept of Health09:30 Questions & Discussion09:40 Beijing; What is the legacy? - Andrée Dean - CEO- Fitness Industry Association10:05 Questions & Discussion10:15 Coffee/Tea - Exhibition10:45 Relative Cost Effectiveness of Different Weight loss / Weight Maintenance Programmes Dr Paul Trueman - Centre of Health Economics - York University11:15 Questions and Discussion11:20 Sanofi-Aventis Sponsored lecture - Dr Matt Capehorn12:10 Lessons from Bermuda - A Way Forward for Britain - Sarah Burrows, Terry Faulkenberry, Troy Vincent

12:30 Lunch - Exhibitions

13:30 Session 5 Chair - Dr Hilary Jones 13:35 Prof Peter Kopelman - The Foresight Report - one year on14:00 GSK Sponsored lecture - Supporting overweight and obese patients: What role can pharmacy play? – Dr Terry Maguire14:40 Questions and Discussions

Debate

14:50 Chair - Dr Hilary Jones ‘This house believes that childhood obesity should be considered as a child protection issue’ For the motion: Tam Fry - Child Growth Foundation Against the motion: Prof Paul Gately - Leeds Met University

15:35 Message from Westminster - Is Obesity Solely a Personal Responsibility?16:15 Close

Programme

It is my great pleasure, on behalf of the Trustees of NOF, to bid you a very warm welcome to this our 6th Annual Conference.

In planning the programme we have tried to provide you with up to date information on the scientific aspects of obesity, while at the same time making room for consideration of what might be termed socio-political issues. In the allocation of time Day 1 concentrates on the science, while the content of Day 2 focuses on the socio-political.

My colleague, Jane DeVille-Almond has been doing important work on tackling obesity in Bermuda and has returned with important messages about collaborative working, which our guests from there will be sharing with us.

Childhood and adolescent obesity has such devastating consequences that we felt a debate on whether it constituted child abuse worthy of consideration.

In this country the political parties are beginning to take their stances as we move towards the next general election. I hope that in the final session of the conference we will be able to learn what will be their approaches to tackling obesity which is fast becoming the major public health problem.

I hope you enjoy your time with us – as always we are receptive to suggestions for future years.

My very best wishes to you all.

Colin WaineChairman, National Obesity Forum

Colin Waine O.B.E. F.R.C.G.P.,F.R.C.Path.

2 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

The National Obesity Forum wishes to acknowledge their gratitude to the following Gold sponsors

10:10 Abbott Sponsored lecture

Luc Van Gaal studied medicine at the University of Antwerp, where he graduated in 1978. He obtained a specialist degree in internal medicine and afterwards in endocrinology and metabolism in 1983.Since then, he has become responsible for the Metabolic Unit at the Antwerp University Hospital. In 1992 he became Professor of Medicine at Antwerp University and is currently head of the department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism of the University Hospital.

Professor Van Gaal’s main clinical and research interests are related to obesity, type 2 diabetes and lipid metabolism. He is a member of many scientific, national and international societies and a member of the Editorial Board of a series of scientific journals. He is board member of the Belgian Association for the Study of Obesity (BASO) and Past-President of the Belgian Diabetic Society. He is as a founding member also involved in the scientific activities of the Obesitas Forum (Belgium) and the International (IASO) SCOPE programme. He is the running secretary of the Belgian Endocrine Society. In 2000, he was the co-President of the 10th European Congress on Obesity, organized in Antwerp in May 2000.

He has published more than 220 papers in international medical journals, mainly in the areas of general endocrinology, obesity, diabetes and lipids and has contributed to a number of textbooks about obesity.

Prof. Dr. Luc Van Gaal Professor of Medicine, Department of Endocrinology, Diabetology and Metabolism, Antwerp University Hospital, Antwerp, Belgium

4 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

Mon

day

6th

10:55 Session 1 - The Biology of Obesity

Ashley graduated with BSc and State Registration in Dietetics in 1987 and worked until 1989 in the NHS in London. In 1989 she moved to Newcastle and took up a research associate post at University of Newcastle measuring the diets of 11 to 12 year old children; she completed her PhD thesis on the diets of adolescents graduating in 1993. In 1992 Ashley returned to London and worked as a dietitian in both the community and in primary care in Enfield and Haringey areas of London. During this time Ashley was elected chair of Dietitians working in Primary Care and was a member of the British Dietetic Association’s Community Nutrition Group (CNG). In 1995 Ashley returned to Newcastle to take up post as Lecturer in Nutrition in the then newly formed Human Nutrition Research Centre (HNRC). She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005.

In Newcastle Ashley is group lead for Public Health Nutrition in the HNRC. Research in the group focuses principally on nutrition epidemiology and interventions for the promotion of healthy body weight and diet in children and young people. Previous work has included evaluation of brief interventions for obesity in primary care (the BiO project). In Jan 05 Ashley was awarded a Department of Health National Public Health Career Scientist Award for 2005-2010 with a programme of work entitled: ‘Meeting the challenge of the obesity epidemic in children and young adults’.

Ashley has previously served on BDA research committee and Nutrition Society council and is currently serving as a member of the BDA Food First planning committee and Nutrition Society programmes committee. She is a member of the Association of the Study of Obesity.

Dr Ashley Adamson Chair BSc, SRD, PhD, RPHNutr

6 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

11:00 The Adipocyte and its Many Functions

Dr Andrew Brewster is a full time general practitioner in Reading with specialist interests in obesity and type 2 diabetes; he became a Trustee of the National Obesity Forum in February this year.

Andrew has set up a two session expert patient weight management programme at his surgery. The focus of the programme is to explain to patients the impact of weight on health and in particular the importance of body fat partitioning and risk of abdominal obesity in relation to associated co-morbidities. The programme aims to give patients the confidence and motivation to improve health via successful weight management and waist reduction. Andrew has developed the concept of Cut the Waist which aims to raise awareness of an important public health message aimed at encouraging at-risk individuals to reduce their abdominal circumference.

The Adipocyte Principle

Based on a virtual book, the Adipocyte Principle illustrates how extraordinary deductions can be made regarding obesity co-morbid diseases through knowledge of ectopic fat deposition and abnormal fat metabolism.

The concept of “fat overflow” will be discussed within the context of adipocyte size. The development of healthy adipose tissue reflects an individual’s capacity for functional adipocyte differentiation and proliferation – the so-called “metabolic sink.”

Maintaining normal weight and healthy functional fat mass amidst the relentless pressure of positive energy balance encountered within our society represents an increasingly unlikely scenario. Evolutionary maladaptation to our new obesogenic environment manifests as poor health related to poor “fat health.”

As an illustration of poor fat health, the role of intramyocellular fat, dysfunctional visceral fat mass, adipositis and associated derangements in adipocytokines will be discussed in relation to the development of insulin resistance and dyslipidaemia. The concept of “metabolic obesity” rather than metabolic syndrome is considered as a more apt description of the metabolic consequences of expanded visceral fat mass and accumulated ectopic fat depots.

The reader of the Adipocyte Principle is encouraged to consider that methods currently used to assess the obese patient may in the course of time prove a rather over-simplistic approach:

Is the concept of BMI and Metabolic Syndrome simply “painting by numbers?” Should we continue our involvement in these concepts as part of our ongoing attempt to understand the biology of the obese patient?

The finale of the Adipocyte Principle is a call to arms: Let us begin to really understand obesity - Let us take on board the lessons of the Adipocyte Principle and truly learn how to paint!

References:

Deprés J-P, Lemieux I, Prud’homme D. Treatment of Obesity: need to focus on high risk abdominally obese patients. British Medical Journal 2001; 322: 716-720

Gravilova O, Marcus-Samuels B, Graham D et al. Surgical implantation of adipose tissue reverses diabetes in lipoatrophic mice. Journal of Clinical Investigation 2000; 105(3): 271-278

Weyer C, Foley JE, Bogardus C et al. Enlarged subcutaneous abdominal adipocyte size, but not obesity itself predicts type II diabetes independent of insulin resistance. Diabetologica 2000; 43: 1498-1506

Unger RH. Minireview: Weapons of lean Body Mass Destruction: The Role of Ectopic Lipids in the Metabolic Syndrome. Endocrinology 2003; 144(12): 5159-5165

Couillard C, Bergeron N, Prud’homme D et al. Postprandial Triglyceride Response in Visceral Obesity in Men. Diabetes 1998; 47: 953-960

Brewster A. Body composition and type 2 diabetes. Diabetes and Primary Care. Sept 2008

Dr Andrew Brewster NOF

8 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

11:40 Early Life Influences

Karen Jewell Midwife - University Hospital Wales

10 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

12:20 My Genes Made Me Eat That

Stephen O’Rahilly graduated in Medicine from University College Dublin in 1981. From 1982 to 1991 he undertook postgraduate clinical and research training in general medicine, diabetes and endocrinology in London, Oxford and Harvard. In 1991 he obtained a Wellcome Trust Senior Clinical Fellowship and established his laboratory at the University of Cambridge at Addenbrooke’s Hospital. In 1996 he was appointed to a newly created Chair of Metabolic Medicine and in 2002 to the Chair of Clinical Biochemistry and Medicine at the University of Cambridge. He is currently Head of the University Department of Clinical Biochemistry. His research has been concerned with the elucidation of the basic causes of obesity and Type 2 diabetes at a molecular level. His work has uncovered several previously unrecognised genetic causes of these diseases including some that are amenable to specific treatment. He has won many awards for his work including the Society for Endocrinology Medal, the Graham Bull Prize of the Royal College of Physicians of London, the European Journal of Endocrinology Prize, the Novartis International Award for Clinical Research in Diabetes, the Clinical Investigator Award of the Endocrine Society, the Heinrich Wieland Prize, the Rolf Luft Award and the Feldberg Award. He was elected to the Academy of Medical Sciences in 1999 and to the Royal Society in 2003. He has a continuing commitment to clinical practice in endocrinology and diabetes and the teaching of clinical medical students. He is Service Centre Director of the NHS Clinical Biochemistry Department of Addenbrooke’s Hospital. He has made important contributions to the development of infrastructure for clinical research on the Addenbrooke’s campus. He was the founding Director of Addenbrooke’s Hospital Wellcome Trust Clinical Research Facility (est. 2000) and led the University’s efforts to fund and establish the Institute of Metabolic Science (IMS).

This Institute opened in 2007 and is co-directed by O’Rahilly and Dr Nick Wareham whose MRC Epidemiology Unit is located in the IMS. He has contributed more generally to UK clinical science through his Chairmanship of the Wellcome Trust Clinical Interest Group and service on the research committees of several charities. He is currently Chairman of the Medical Research Society and of the MRC Translational Research Overview Group, and a member of the Council of the Society for Endocrinology.

AbstractThe recent increase in the worldwide prevalence of obesity has understandably focused attention on the environmental determinants of this “epidemic”. While identifying the relative contributions of the factors underlying this recent trend is critical, a comprehensive understanding of the causes of obesity will need to explain why, even in high risk populations, many people remain lean. Contemporary studies indicate that the heritability of adiposity remains high, even in the face of a strongly obesogenic environment. While the role of inheritance has long been appreciated, only recently have we begun to develop a genuine understanding of the critical role of specific molecules in sensing the state of nutrient storage and regulating food intake and energy expenditure. Notably, a number of single gene disorders resulting in human obesity have been uncovered and, strikingly, all of these defects impair the central control of food intake. Early indications are that common genetic variants influencing adiposity on a population level impact on the same processes. While the rising prevalence of obesity is related to increasing ease of access to high-energy palatable food combined with diminishing requirement for physical activity, differences in inter-individual susceptibility to obesity are likely to be related to inherited variation in the efficiency of central control mechanisms influencing eating behaviour. Such a construct understandably courts unpopularity as it can appear to diminish the importance of human free will and is perceived by some as representing a counsel of despair and an “excuse” for otherwise controllable behaviour. We argue that a view of obesity that emphasises the profound biological basis for inter-individual differences in responding to the challenges of achieving a healthy control of nutrient intake should result in a more enlightened attitude to people with obesity with a consequent reduction in their experience of social and economic discrimination. In the longer term, this may also lead to more efficacious, individually-targeted approaches to the treatment and prevention of obesity.

Dr S O’Rahilly MD FRCP FRCPI FRCPath FRS FMedSci

11 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

12 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

14:00 Session 2 - Update on the co-morbidities

Dr David Haslam is a GP with a special interest in obesity and cardiometabolic disease, Physician in Obesity Medicine at the Centre for Obesity Research at Luton & Dunstable Hospital, and Clinical Director of the National Obesity Forum (NOF) in the UK.

He took charge of formulating the guidelines for adult obesity management in primary care and produced the first Primary Care guidelines for management of childhood obesity with the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health. He is Chair of the charity Foundations, a Director of PCOS UK, a member of the Counterweight Board, Visiting Lecturer at Chester University and Visiting Fellow at the Postgraduate Medical School of Herts & Beds. David has articles widely published in journals and papers and speaks internationally on obesity and related diseases. His books include ‘Your Questions Answered- Obesity’ in the popular YQA series, and his next major work is a book on the history of obesity, gluttony and sloth, due to be published in 2008.

Dr David Haslam Chair Clinical Director - NOF

13 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

(Plan not to scale)

Posters

Core WLResource

W Watchers

Lighterlife

Improvement Foundation

Ken Clare Coca Cola

Silver A

Tanita

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Po

ster

s

Exhibition Layout Dorchester Library

Exhibition Layout Osler & Long Hall

Posters

Core WLResource

W Watchers

Lighterlife

Improvement Foundation

Ken Clare Coca Cola

Silver A

Tanita

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Po

ster

s

14:15 Keynote Address

Dr. Lopez-Jimenez completed his cardiology and research training at Harvard Medical School and Harvard School of Public Health. He is an Associate professor of Medicine at Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and staff cardiologist at Mayo Clinic and the director of the Cardiometabolic Program and the Clinical Director of the Cardiovascular Health Clinic. His research interest is focused on the effects of obesity and related conditions on the heart. He has received several recognitions from national and international associations, including the American College of Cardiology Junior Investigator Award in Preventive Cardiology. He has been a guest speaker in more than 30 institutions in 9 countries and has more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in scientific journals.

Normal Weigh Obesity

The gold standard definition of obesity is an excess in body fat of >25% in men and >35% in women. However, clinicians and epidemiologists often rely on body mass index (BMI) as a means of defining the presence of adiposity or obesity. However, a significant limitation of using BMI is its failure to differentiate between body fat and lean mass, especially in patients with a BMI < 30 kg/m2. An excess in adiposity has been clearly associated with numerous co-morbidities, including insulin resistance, altered lipid metabolism, heightened sympathetic tone and endothelial dysfunction. Therefore, it is important to correctly identify an excess in body fat in patients from a public health standpoint. By misclassifying patients with excess body fat as non-obese, we miss the opportunity to intervene and reduce health risk in such individuals.

Our research has proved that one out of every five subjects with normal BMI in the US population has an excess in body fat. These normal weight obesity subjects have several cardio-metabolic disturbances, an increased prevalence of metabolic syndrome. Normal weight obesity subjects appear to be at higher risk for total and cardiovascular mortality.

Francisco Lopez-Jimenez MD, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine - USA

14 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

15:00 Obesity and Dyslipidaemia

Dr Jonathan Morrell has been a GP for 29 years and is now based in Hastings where he is also a hospital practitioner in cardiology. He was a founding member of both HEART UK and the Primary Care Cardiovascular Society and is also a member of the British Cardiovascular Society. He is Executive Editor for the ‘Drugs in Context’ publications group and is an editorial board member, referee and contributor to a range of other medical journals. He is the author of eleven books, mostly on the prevention of heart disease including the recently published ‘Lipids - Your Questions Answered’, ‘Best Medicine Simple Guide to Cholesterol’ and ‘Pocket Science - Lipid Disorders’. Dr Morrell’s current research interests include the European Society of Cardiology EUROACTION project, the REACH Registry and the IDEA and INSPIRE-ME studies.

Abstract

The epidemiology of obesity is well known. Globalisation of unhealthy lifestyles is responsible for the modern obesity epidemic and both increasing BMI and waist circumference are associated with the development of features of the metabolic syndrome, type 2 diabetes mellitus, adverse cardiovascular events and increased all cause mortality. Whilst obesity is probably an independent cardiovascular risk factor, multivariate analysis shows that much of the effect is explained by its component risk factors particularly dyslipidaemia, hypertension, and insulin resistance.

Obesity is a common cause of secondary hyperlipidaemia and exacerbates any primary hyperlipidaemia. Typically, the dyslipidaemia seen in obesity manifests as raised total and LDL cholesterol (LDL-C), raised triglycerides and lower levels of HDL cholesterol (HDL-C). Obesity increases cholesterol synthesis, but more so in some than others and therefore the increase in total and LDL-C is variable and sometimes not pronounced. In obesity (particularly abdominal obesity), free fatty acid flux from adipose cells increases liver manufacture and secretion of triglyceride-rich VLDL (very low density lipoprotein). Normally VLDL is broken down quickly to provide triglycerides for energy and storage as well as cholesterol for cells. Insulin resistance slows the breakdown of triglyceride-rich lipoproteins which, being more persistent, can exchange their triglyceride for cholesterol from HDL-C and LDL-C. The resulting triglyceride-rich HDL-C and LDL-C then lose their extra triglyceride in the liver resulting in smaller and denser varieties. Small, dense LDL-C is more readily oxidised in the tissues and therefore, potentially more atherogenic. Small, dense HDL-C may be less protective but this is less clear.

All forms of hyperlipidaemia associated with obesity will improve with weight loss. Management includes dietary energy restriction, increased physical activity and the use of both weight-reducing and lipid-lowering drugs.

Dr Jonathan Morrell

15 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

15:25 Salt and soft drinks – a hidden link to obesity

Dr Feng He Senior Research Fellow in Blood Pressure Unit of St George’s, University of London

16 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

15:45 Mapping Obesity Roche Sponsored lecture

Prof Colin Waine O.B.E. F.R.C.G.P.,F.R.C.Path.

17 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

16:50 Session 3 - Research News from the North

Jane is an Independent Nurse Consultant and free lance journalist who specialises in Men’s Health and Obesity in Primary Care.

She works at the cutting edge of innovation and has had much national and local press coverage appearing on many TV and radio shows including Diet Junkies (BBC2) Fat Chance (ITV) ‘taxing the fat’ More4 , March 2007 was featured in the money programme on BBC2 about obesity and men and ‘Half Ton hospital’ which was on ITV as a Trevor McDonald special, Dispatches ‘the truth about your food’ Channel 4 and ‘diets time forgot’ channel 4 (6 part series started March 18th 2008)

She has run men’s health surgeries and weight management clinics in many unusual places including a barbers shop, Harley-Davidson show room, Truck stops, crown green bowling clubs, pubs, working men’s clubs and fishing fairs.

She has also been involved in improving health in the workplace and has worked not only with many small business but also larger companies such as Royal Mail, BT and Arriva PLC.

Jane runs training courses for nurses, doctors and other health care professionals throughout the UK and has also worked in Europe, Bermuda and the Far East.

She is a director and trustee of two national UK charities the National Obesity Forum (NOF) which she is vice chair, and the Men’s Health Forum (MHF) which she is vice chair/president.

Jane is recognised as a leading expert in her field and has written many published articles and chapters on the subject. She has won several awards for her innovation in nursing and was nominated Nurse of the year in 1999.

Jane’s latest projects include setting up and launching FREE ‘spare tyre checks’ for men at MOTO motorway service stations across the country where nurses carry out a range of health checks looking at the level of undetected health problems due to weight and large waist measurements and the incidents of ‘the metabolic syndrome’(2 papers presented at European Conference of Obesity 2008) and results being presented at the 20th World Diabetes Congress in Montreal 2009, and working with Lambeth PCT setting up services with hard to reach groups of men that involve working with Arriva bus travel and the Employment office in Brixton as well as running a stall on Brixton market for a week targeting obese men.

Jane trained as an SRN in Jersey in 1974 later training as a Midwife and Health Visitor in the West Midlands. She also worked as a School Nurse, Public Health Nurse and Practice nurse. In 1992 she completed a BA(Hons) in English and German business studies and subsequently worked as Primary Care Editor at the Nursing Times.

Jane DeVille-Almond ChairVice Chair NOF

18 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

16:55 Obesity, Pregnancy & Physical Activity

Ruth completed postgraduate medical training in Public Health Medicine in the North East of England. She then moved into academic public health, developing research interests in perinatal epidemiology and completing a doctorate on the epidemiology of stillbirth. She was appointed Senior Lecturer in Public Health at Newcastle University in 2005. Her current research programme focuses on obesity and diabetes in pregnant women, including the impact on mothers’ and babies’ health and the development of effective interventions to tackle this increasing problem.

Abstract:

Maternal obesity is associated with increased risks to the mother and baby, including the development of pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes and pre-eclampsia, and an increased risk of high birthweight. Weight management during pregnancy is difficult and interventions to limit pregnancy weight gain have had limited success. Physical activity improves metabolic parameters irrespective of weight, thus interventions to promote physical activity during pregnancy may help reduce obesity related pregnancy complications. There is very limited information about activity levels during pregnancy. In Newcastle, 60 overweight women were followed through their pregnancy to assess their physical activity levels, identify how activity varied during pregnancy and explore what types of activity were most common. Twelve women were interviewed in depth about their experiences. Interventions to encourage pregnant women to remain as active as possible during pregnancy will need to take into account women’s varied situations and motivations. Swimming and walking are likely to be the most readily adopted types of activity.

Dr Ruth Bell Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University

19 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

17:10 The Early Origins of Obesity: The Gateshead Millennium Study

Dr Ashley Adamson

20 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

17:25 Balance-It Getting the Balance Right

GETTING THE BALANCE RIGHT – A PRAGMATIC COMMUNITY INTERVENTION PROGRAMME FOR OVERWEIGHT/OBESE CHILDREN IN GATESHEAD.

Dale A 1, Hall T 2 Brown K 1 Healey A 2 Dickson E 1 Walker L 1 Hay S2 Goodwin M 3 Harvey D 31 Gateshead Health Foundation Trust, Tyne and Wear, UK2 Gateshead Primary Care Trust, Tyne and Wear, UK3 Gateshead Council, Tyne and Wear UK.

Aims

In Gateshead, a quarter of 10-11year olds are overweight or obese. Getting the Balance Right is a holistic intervention aimed at tackling this problem in school aged Children, specifically, aiming to improve Body Mass Index (BMI) in children Completing the pathway of care for a twelve month period.

Methods

After inter -disciplinary consultation, between health, social services and leisure services locally , a pathway of care was developed to identify and assess children who were overweight or obese. Personalised programmes of nutrition al and behaviour al advice and physical activity were offered to children and families. School health advisors or dieticians did initial assessments; paediatricians reviewed children thought to have underlying medical conditions and all children received coaching by a trained leisure worker. All data are quoted as means. BMI adult equivalent (Adeq) and BMI standard deviation scores (SDS) are given.

Results

Over 30 months, 231 children with a BMI_Adeq of 28.9±5.8 and BMI_SDS of 3.0±0.7 entered the programme. Ninety nine children (11.4±3.3years, 59% female and 78% obese) attended four dietetic appointment over 6.6±3.1 months and BMI_Adeq decreased by 0.9±1.7 and BMI_SDS by 0.14±0.25 (both p<0.0001). A significant decrease in BMI was maintained and 20 children, who still had not been discharged from dietetic review, attended their ninth appointment at 14.9±3.6 months, when BMI_Adeq had decreased by 1.8±3.1 and BMI_SDS by 0.27±0.44 (p<0.01).

Conclusion

Our pragmatic intervention was a partnership between the PCT, Hospital Foundation Trust and the council. It has uniquely produced a sustained and significant improvement in BMI in a large cohort. The results compare favourably with other shorter, smaller -scale interventions and other community projects 1,2. Our approach could be used in other areas as a strategy to combat the rise in childhood obesity. Funding We are grateful to Gateshead Council and the Dept of Health for funding this project through a local public service agreement. There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

1) Sacher PM, Chadwick P, Wells CK, Williams JE, Cole TJ, Lawson MS J Hum Nutr Diet et 2005 18, 3-5 2) Rudolf M, Christie D, McElhone S, Sahota P, Dixey R, Walker J, Wellings C Arch Dis Child 2006 91,736-739.

Dr Anne Dale

Kirsty Brown

Dr Lucy Walker

21 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

17:40 Food & the Obesogenic Environment of Young Adults

Dr Amelia Lake is a dietitian and public health nutritionist with the Human Nutrition Research Centre at Newcastle University. A holder of a National Institute for Research Post-doctoral Fellowship, Amelia’s current work is to explore the Obesogenic Environment in young people. This research involves collaborating with urban designers and geographers to examine how the environment interacts with food behaviour in young people. Amelia received her first degree from Glasgow Caledonian University and worked in the Health Service before taking up a research post with Newcastle University, where she completed a PhD. Amelia is a committee member of the Association for the Study of Obesity, a council member for the Nutrition Society and also member of the British Dietetic Association. A regular contributor to her profession’s publications, Amelia has extensive experience of working with non-specialist audiences as well as academics, has produced various training programmes and related material.

Abstract

In order to develop long term solutions to prevent obesity, there is a need for further understanding of the relationship between what we eat and the environmental context in which these food choices are made.

The structure of society in terms of the food environment or the ‘foodscape’ has changed rapidly in the UK over the last twenty years. Alongside this change has been an exponential increase in the prevalence of overweight and obesity.

This has stimulated research across the world to explain the relationship between aspects of food retailing, diet and health[1].

Research has tended to focus either on the interactions between physical activity and the environment or, to a lesser extent, between nutrition behaviour and the environment. Limited availability of relevant data means there is less evidence regarding the relationship between food choice, dietary habits and the environment[2]. Research needs to focus on both sides of energy balance within an environmental context.

Previous work has tended to focus on food availability in the environment either in terms of the spatial distribution of food shops in relation to the socio-economic status of communities or looking at neighbourhood food availability and individual level food intake[2].

To date there has been little research on the impact of food access on risk of obesity[1]. Few studies have examined the environmental factors that may influence adolescent dietary behaviours[3]. Research in this area needs to look beyond access and include additional factors which influence food choice and eating habits. There is a need to understand the mechanisms by which the environment influences food choice and dietary intake[4].

References

1.White, M., Obesity Reviews, 2007. 8(s1): p. 99.

2.Papas, M.A., et al., Epidemiologic Reviews, 2007.

29(1): p. 129. 3.van der Horst, K., et al., Health

Education Research, 2007. 22(2): p. 203. 4.Giskes, K., et al., Public Health Nutrition, 2007. 10(10): p. 1005.

Dr Amelia Lake RD PHNutr PhD

22 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

17:55 Adiposity, Diet & Activity: The Transition from Childhood into Adulthood

Alison Hossack

23 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

18:10 Dial A Dietitian Research Award 2007 Update. A Pilot Study of a Dietetic Telephone Support Helpline

Juliet graduated from Glasgow Caledonian University in 1986 with BSc in Nutrition and Dietetics. Has worked as a dietitian in Birmingham initially then moving into Community Dietetics working in Aberdeen and Tayside over the last sixteen years.Juliet spent one year as the Food For The Heart Campaign Nutritionist with the Health Education Authority. Special Interests include resource development and weight management.

Abstract

This study sets out to investigate the effectiveness of a new dietetic telephone support line for discharged weight management patients. The dietetic helpline will run for one year. Patients will be able to call the support line and speak with the study dietitian on a weekly basis whilst being encouraged to self-monitor their weight and waist measurements throughout the study period.

Initially qualitative data collected from 10 in depth interviews with a target group of patients will inform the design of the new service. Patients on exit from the study at 6 months will complete an interviewer-administered questionnaire. Quantitative data collection involves weight and waist measurements being taken from 100 patients on entry and exit to the study. Key outcome measures will be weight and waist measurement change in users and non-users of the service. The number of calls received by the service will be recorded to ascertain usage. Frequently asked questions and common themes to calls will also be collated. This evaluative study will find out if the new service is used and what impact continued support may have towards providing patients with longer-term dietetic support. It is hoped this pilot feasibility study will aid the design of a subsequent randomised control trial involving other community dietetic departments in Scotland.

Juliet MillerBsc.SRD. Community Dietitian, Stacathro Hospital Brechin, Angus, NHS Tayside.

24 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

18:30 Drinks & Canapés Reception and Awards Ceremony 2008

NOF Best Practice Awards 2008 Winner to be announced - Karan Thomas

The National Obesity 2008 Research Awards - Winner to be announced - Dr Ashley Adamson

All delegates are invited to attend the drinks reception and awards ceremony at the RCP in the exhibition halls.

25 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

08:30 Current Issues

Anne Diamond has been a household name for the past 25 years, working in daily TV, radio and national newspapers.

Far from being just a journalist, she pioneered breakfast TV in the early 80s, anchoring TVam and interviewing global leaders, celebrities and top politicians in locations as varied as Sydney Harbour during the Australian Bicentennial, the Brandenburg Gate during the fall of the Berlin Wall, and Hollywood. She started daytime TV with the BBC, and now regularly hosts breakfast and morning radio programmes, often starting her day in the middle of the night! She is the author of many books, both fact and fiction, and is a busy Mum of four boys.

Professionally, she is most proud, however, of her reputation as a health campaigner , spearheading awareness drives on a national level concerning cervical cancer screening, autism, dyslexia and vaccination programmes.

She marks as her proudest achievement the formation and presentation of the 1991 “Back To Sleep” campaign to prevent cot death, which dramatically reduced the SIDS rate in Britain – from around 2,500 annual deaths to 300. This followed the cot death of her own son, Sebastian. For her part in saving what’s estimated to be around 20,000 lives, Anne was recently awarded the Gold Medal of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health.

Now she has turned her attention to the obesity epidemic, since her own well-publicised battle with her weight. Two years ago, Anne underwent gastric surgery – firstly abroad then subsequently here in Britain. Her colourful experience has become both a warning siren and a ray of hope for many patients whose health is in danger because of their weight.

Anne Diamond Chair

26 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

08:35 Are We Choosing Health? Healthcare/Audit Commission Report

Jude is Head of Public Health in the Healthcare Commission. She has led the development of the assessment process of all healthcare organisations on the standards for public health as part of the annual health check as well as leading, for the Healthcare Commission, on several in-depth reviews on sexual health, tobacco control, unintentional injury, obesity and a recent review called ‘Are we Choosing Health?’. Previously, she worked in the Department of Health on teenage pregnancy, substance misuse and health inequality; at the same time she was the Health Expert Advisor for the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. Jude was previously a director of East London and the City Health Authority. During her ten years there she led on health improvement, patient and public engagement and regeneration and health.

Abstract

The purpose of the Healthcare Commission is to ‘promote improvements in the quality of healthcare and public health in England and Wales’. This presentation will set out how the Healthcare Commission has delivered this agenda in relation to public health over the past 4 years. This will cover its work on annually assessing the performance of healthcare organisations as well as the five thematic reviews it has conducted, the most recent of which considers the impact of the last 10 years of health related policies on health improvement, health inequality and service performance.

27 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

Tues

day

7th

Day Two Tuesday 7th October

08:00 - 08:30 Registration & Coffee/Tea - Exhibitions

08:30 Session 4 - Current Issues Chair - Anne Diamond 08:35 Are We Choosing Health? Healthcare/Audit Commission Report - Jude Williams09:05 Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives - The Implementations - Will Cavendish - Dept of Health09:30 Questions & Discussion09:40 Beijing; What is the legacy? - Andrée Dean - CEO- Fitness Industry Association10:05 Questions & Discussion10:15 Coffee/Tea - Exhibition10:45 Relative Cost Effectiveness of Different Weight loss / Weight Maintenance Programmes Dr Paul Trueman - Centre of Health Economics - York University11:15 Questions and Discussion11:20 Sanofi-Aventis Sponsored lecture - Dr Matt Capehorn12:10 Lessons from Bermuda - A Way Forward for Britain - Sarah Burrows, Terry Faulkenberry, Troy Vincent

12:30 Lunch - Exhibitions

13:30 Session 5 Chair - Dr Hilary Jones 13:35 Prof Peter Kopelman - The Foresight Report - one year on14:00 GSK Sponsored lecture - Supporting overweight and obese patients: What role can pharmacy play? – Dr Terry Maguire14:40 Questions and Discussions

Debate

14:50 Chair - Dr Hilary Jones ‘This house believes that childhood obesity should be considered as a child protection issue’ For the motion: Tam Fry - Child Growth Foundation Against the motion: Prof Paul Gately - Leeds Met University

15:35 Message from Westminster - Is Obesity Solely a Personal Responsibility?16:15 Close

ProgrammeJude Williams MSc, BSc, Cert Ed.

09:05 Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives - The Implementations

Dr Will Cavendish is Director of Health and Wellbeing at the UK Department of Health. He is responsible for a range of personal and public health areas that are central to the future health of the nation. These include tackling obesity and overweight, reducing alcohol harm, promoting breastfeeding, promoting greater physical activity, improving children and young people’s public health, and improving dramatically workplace and employee health.

He has previously spent two years as Director of Strategy at the Department of Health. Prior to that he was Senior Policy Advisor in the Prime Minister’s Strategy Unit, Special Advisor to the Secretary of State for Education and Skills, and was head of policy for the Labour Party in the run up to the 2001 General Election. He has had a distinguished career as an economist, working for the World Bank and a number of other international agencies, lecturing at Oxford University and Imperial College, and holds a doctorate in economics from Oxford University.

Will Cavendish Director of Health & Well-Being

28 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

09:40 Beijing; What is the legacy?

Andrée is Chief Executive Officer of the Fitness Industry Association (FIA), public affairs advisor to SkillsActive and board director of Sport England (London Region).

After a seven year career as a Physical Education teacher, Andree launched her career in the health and fitness industry sector. She has now worked in this sector for over 20 years.

She is an author of the first Exercise and Fitness NVQs and more recently, has represented the industry’s interests at Whitehall and Westminster including contributing to the Department of Health’s National Quality Assurance Framework and the recently published White Paper on Public Health. Andrée has been a major driver in the establishment of the Register of Exercise Professionals.

In 1987 Andrée established an instructor training company, Shape Fitness Education, which trained and qualified over 10,000 exercise instructors and personal trainers. She sold the company to Central YMCA (CYMCA) and was retained as a director at the CYMCA for a further six years.

Andrée was part of the team which secured Government accreditation for the YMCA awarding body, Central YMCA Qualifications. It awards certificates for exercise qualifications to over 20,000 candidates per year.

Andrée was an accomplished 10,000 meter runner before injury and ex-county hockey player. Cycling is now Andrée’s passion. A committed Chelsea FC season ticket holder Andrée has supported the team for over 20 years.

Andrée joined the FIA in 1999. She is responsible for developing the FIA’s public affairs strategy which is widely recognised as one of the industry’s most compelling ambassadors.

Andrée Dean CEO- Fitness Industry Association

29 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

10:45 Relative Cost Effectiveness of Different Weight loss / Weight Maintenance Programmes

Paul Trueman is the Director of the York Health Economics Consortium, an applied health research organisation at the University of York. Paul contributed to the development of the NICE guidelines on obesity and has since conducted obesity related research for NHS and commercial weight loss programmes, including Weight Watchers and Counterweight. Paul has continued to be involved in the development of NICE public health guidelines and is currently a member of the guideline development group on physical activity and children. Prior to joining YHEC, Paul held research positions in the pharmaceutical industry and the civil service.

Abstract

The rapidly increasing rates of obesity represent a major challenge to the NHS. The costs to the NHS of managing obesity are relatively modest however the costs of managing conditions relating to obesity are estimated to amount to approximately £0.5 billion per annum. The total cost to society, taking into account lost productivity, is estimated to be close to £3 billion.

The NICE guidelines on obesity highlight the need for commissioners to put in place both treatment and prevention. Public health interventions and non-pharmacological interventions have been shown to be highly cost effective. However, their cost effectiveness is heavily influenced by the degree to which they can provide sustained weight loss. Studies of a number of commercial weight loss programmes have shown that weight loss can be sustained for as long as 5 years following introduction of the intervention.

When commissioning weight management services, commissioners should consider the evidence available to support interventions designed to prevent and treat obesity. On the basis of current evidence, commercial weight loss programmes may be a cost effective adjunct to services provided by the NHS.

Dr Paul Trueman Centre of Health Economics, York University

30 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

11:20 Sanofi-Aventis Sponsored lecture

I studied at the University of Sheffield and qualified with a BMedSci degree in Neurophysiology in 1993, and my MBChB degree in Medicine and Surgery in 1996. I have been a full time GP Principal since 2001 but I like to keep busy, having had many other interests including being a Forensic Medical Examiner (Police Surgeon) since 2002, a GPwSI in drug misuse, Honorary Secretary of the Rotherham Division of BMA since 2003, and also working for our out of hours service since 2006.

However, my main interest over the last few years has been as a GP specialising in obesity management. In 2001 I set up a dedicated weight management clinic within our Practice, which for many years remained Rotherham’s only dedicated service for adult obesity. Over recent years it has expanded due to demand, and a reputation for achieving good sustainable results. We now have comprehensive plans to develop a Rotherham Institute for Obesity, and provide a Rotherham wide multi-disciplinary service based around a specialist centre that will also tackle difficult areas such as childhood obesity.

I have been invited on to several local, regional and national strategy/advisory boards and regularly speak at meetings to all healthcare professionals in the hope of encouraging weight management services. I have also made numerous radio and television appearances in interviews and documentaries relating to current obesity matters. I am now the Chairman of the Yorkshire and The Humber region of the National Obesity Forum, and in 2008 I was honoured to become a member of their Board of Trustees.

Abstract

Over the 2 days of the NOF conference we will be taught the latest thinking on what currently know about obesity, its prevalence, prevention and its management.

During the Sanofi-Aventis Symposium we intend to look at how we put all of this into practice, and see how we can run a typical weight management programme in primary care.

We will also have a reminder of the current licensed pharmacotherapy and look at when this should be considered in the care pathway and how we can identify which medication to use and when.

Dr Matt Capehorn

31 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

32 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

13:30 Session 5

Dr Hilary Jones qualified at the Royal Free Hospital School of Medicine, London, in 1976. Since qualifying he has held a number of interesting posts including single-handed medical officer on Tristan da Cunah in the South Atlantic, and medical trouble shooter for the oil industry in the Shetlands.

He became a full time Principal in General Practice in 1982 and a GP Trainer in 1987. He now practices part time as an NHS GP.

He joined the breakfast TV station, TVam, in 1990 and has carried on his regular morning slots with GMTV. His sympathetic and laid-back style has made him a popular and respected medical opinion nationwide. He has co-presented The Health Show with Terry Wogan, and presented three series of “Loud & Clear” - a weekly social action programme for Meridian. He has a regular guest slot on Steve Wright’s Radio 2 afternoon show discussing medical matters. Hilary has presented a highly successful relaxation programme available on CD/cassette from Deutsche Grammophon, and a second double CD programme, “Music For Wellbeing” with Universal Classics.

He writes a topical weekly column in the News of the World and deals with readers’ medical problems, medical issues and news each week in Sunday Magazine. He answers readers’ health problems in Rosemary Conley’s Diet and Fitness magazine each month, and contributes to and edits Family Healthcare with Dr Hilary Jones. He is a regular contributor to a number of medical magazines and journals.

He presents videos for retail and corporate use, chairs and presents at conferences and press briefings and is at ease with after dinner speaking.

He has had six books published, “Before You Call The Doctor”, “Your Child’s Health”, “I’m Too Busy To Be Stressed”, “Doctor, What’s The Alternative?”, “Total Well-Being” and “A Change For The Better”.

& Troy Vincent

12:10 Lessons from Bermuda - A Way Forward for Britain -

Live Healthy Bermuda Live Healthy Bermuda (LHB) is a team based weight loss, nutritional and physical activity program that assists participants in making positive changes that lead to a healthier lifestyle. By competing in LHB, participants form teams of friends, family members or co-workers to compete in a 100 Day Challenge to educate, motivate and activate themselves toward healthier habits through physical activity and improved nutrition.

The opportunity to lead communities to distinctly “healthy communities” is a challenge to everyone; individual residents, local government, health care providers, community groups and employers. The leadership capacity and resources of a collaborated effort of the aforementioned groups provides a platform to redirect the community focus from fixing disease and illness to prevention and well health promotion.

The Live Healthy Bermuda program has acted as a platform for a coalition of invested parties of the health of Bermuda to come together. These collaborators include the Bermuda Diabetes Association, The Ministry of Health, Aspen Financial and Lindo’s grocery. By connecting these leaders in their given field a social-ecological model of health and wellness has begun to form in Bermuda.

Through the use of grass roots campaigning, small groups of motivated individuals have experienced success with the Live Healthy Bermuda program and have influenced communities and organizations to participate in a larger scale program. Live Healthy America, the parent program of Live Healthy Bermuda, has conducted successful community activation programs in various cities throughout the United States.

Combining Live Healthy America’s outreach to communities and businesses with the success of Live Healthy Bermuda, over 63,000 people participated in 2008, losing over 206,000 pounds and logging over 77 million minutes of activity. Nearly 300 entities utilized the Live Healthy wellness program and software in 2008.

Live Healthy America is a not-for-profit organization based in Des Moines, Iowa.

Dr Hilary Jones (Chair)Sarah Burrows, Terry Faulkenberry,

33 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

(Plan not to scale)

Posters

Core WLResource

W Watchers

Lighterlife

Improvement Foundation

Ken Clare Coca Cola

Silver A

Tanita

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Po

ster

s

Exhibition Layout Dorchester Library

Exhibition Layout Osler & Long Hall

Posters

Core WLResource

W Watchers

Lighterlife

Improvement Foundation

Ken Clare Coca Cola

Silver A

Tanita

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Coffee, TeaDesserts

Po

ster

s

13:35 The Foresight Report – one year on

He was Vice-Principal, Queen Mary, University of London and Deputy Warden of the Medical and Dental School (2001-6) and Dean of the Faculty of Health, University of East Anglia (2006-8). He has been closely involved in undergraduate and postgraduate medical education and training and chairs the Clinical Examining Board of the Federation of Royal Colleges of Physicians (UK) and the NHIR Academic Careers Panel; he is a member of UK Healthcare Education Advisory Committee.

Professor Kopelman has a long-standing interest in diabetes care, nutrition and obesity with a major research interest in obesity. He is a member of the UK Department of Health and Food Standards Agency Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition, DH Expert Panel on Obesity and is Science Advisor to the Office of Science and Innovations Foresight Obesity Project; additionally he is a member national and international committees on nutrition and academic affairs.

The Foresight Report on Obesity was published in October 2007. The project objectives were to apply a scientific evidence base from a wide range of disciplines to identify the broad range of factors that influence obesity, to apply this to create a better understanding of the relationship between key factors and, in this way, to identify effective interventions. In addition, the project analysed how future levels of obesity might change and the most effective future responses.

Foresight Project Team engaged a multidisciplinary stakeholder group and applied an innovative methodology that combined both quantitative and qualitative approaches. This included the development of a systems map, qualitative modelling and scenarios, and quantitative modelling and scenarios. The key messages from the report confirmed that tackling obesity required far greater change than anything tried previously and at multiple levels (personal, family, community and national) and the need for partnership across Government, science, business and civil society.

HM Government responded in January 2008 with the publication of a cross Government Strategy – “Healthy Weigh, Healthy Lives”. The strategy included a commitment of additional financial resources to support five action themes –

1. The importance for children to grow up with a healthy weight; 2. The need to promote healthier food choices; 3. Building physical activity into our lives; 4creation of incentives for better health; 5. Access to highly personalised feedback and advice on healthier living.

Conclusion: Foresight has engendered considerable strategic progress in considering obesity – the realisation of this commitment into practical and sustainable actions at a local level will be crucial to longer term success.

Foresight. Tackling Obesities – Future Choices. Project Report. Government Office for Science 2007.

Healthy Weight, Healthy Lives: a Cross Government Strategy. Department of Health 2008

Prof Peter KopelmanMD FRCP FFPH St George’s, University of London

34 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

14:00 GSK Sponsored lecture - Supporting overweight and obese patients: What role can pharmacy play?

Dr Maguire is a community pharmacist and an honorary Senior Lecturer at Queen’s University in Belfast. Dr Maguire has a background as a pharmacy trainer and was director of NICPPET from 1997 to 2002. He is a past President of the Pharmaceutical Society of Northern Ireland of which he is a Fellow and is a Fellow of both the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland and the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain.

Dr Maguire’s previous roles have also included the Principal Pharmaceutical Officer, Department of Health and Social Services and Public Safety in Northern Ireland and Vice-Chairman of Pharmacy HealthLink. Dr Maguire has published extensively on the role of pharmacy in improving public health in a number of therapy areas from smoking to obesity.

Abstract

Community pharmacy services play an increasingly important role within the overall health services in the UK. By actively engaging with members of the public and patients, pharmacists are uniquely accessible members of the healthcare team who can promote good health and behavioural change through their counselling activities.

Since overweight and obesity are easily identifiable conditions that can respond well to effective education, including medication and lifestyle advice, it is logical that pharmacy programmes could be developed to support weight loss in these patients. Research in the UK, US and Denmark has demonstrated that brief pharmacy interventions can result in behavioural change in those trying to lose weight, facilitating weight reduction.

Making weight loss medication available OTC is a move that would be welcomed by both pharmacists and the public. Currently around one in five pharmacy customers has tried OTC dietary supplements positioned for weight loss, which have little or no proven efficacy.

Although there may be concern that expanding access to pharmacy-led provision of weight loss medicines could result in inappropriate use of such therapies, the recent OTC switch of orlistat 60 mg in the US suggest that a mature, overweight or obese population committed to losing weight seek treatment in this way. A three-month actual use study in the US found around 90% of orlistat 60 mg users lost weight, but there were also additional lifestyle benefits with most users maintaining a healthy diet and half undertaking more physical activity, with average weight loss of around 5% after 60 days of treatment.

Dr Terry Maguire

35 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

14:50 ‘This house believes that childhood obesity should be considered as a child protection issue’

For the motion: Tam Fry - Child Growth Foundation

Tam Fry, Honorary Chairman, Child Growth Foundation, has spoken for children with growth problems since 1977.

Initially, he tried to balance medical lobbying with his day job as a BBC Television producer but succumbed to the unequal struggle in 1988 and became involved full time with the charity.

He immediately combined his past and present interests and has produced the award-winning videos accompanying every edition of the child health surveillance manual, “ Health For All Children “.

Under his guidance, the Child Growth Foundation introduced the charts without which any identification, referral and tracking of childhood obesity would be difficult to accomplish.

Against the motion: Prof Paul Gately - Leeds Met Uni

Paul Gately, PhD, is Carnegie Professor of Exercise and Obesity and Technical Director of Carnegie Weight Management at Leeds Metropolitan University in the United Kingdom. He graduated from Leeds Metropolitan University with a Bachelors degree in sports science and holds a Masters in Human Nutrition from the University of Sheffield. His primary research interest is childhood obesity treatment strategies. His PhD at Leeds Metropolitan University evaluated a residential weight loss camp as an intervention for the treatment of overweight and obese children. He runs the successful Carnegie International Camp and community based weight loss club programmes throughout Britain. Professor Gately was a recent contributor to the International Obesity Task Force/World Health Organisation’s report on childhood obesity and is a frequent consultant to government agencies, health organisations and corporations throughout the United Kingdom and internationally.

15:35 Message from Westminster - Is Obesity Solely a Personal Responsibility?

Dr Hilary Jones Chair The National Obesity Forum wish to thank the following sponsors for their support at this year’s conference:-

36 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

37 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

Gold sponsors

Silver sponsors

www.abbott.com

www.roche.com

www.gsk.com

www.sanofi-aventis.com

www.slimfast.co.uk

www.tanita.co.uk

www.alprosoya.co.uk

www.weightwatchers.co.uk

www.cambridge-diet.com

www.sainsburys.co.uk

www.rosemaryconley.com

www.nabim.org.uk

www.slimmingworld.com

www.wlsinfo.org.uk

www.canderel.uk.com

www.diabetes.org.uk

www.mendprogramme.org

www.coca-cola.com

www.lighterlife.com

www.weightlossresources.co.uk

www.improvementfoundation.org

www.golower.co.uk

38 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

Please present this page to Abbott, Roche, Alpro & Weight Loss Resources in the Exhibition hallsand pick up your complimentary gifts.

We hope you enjoy the conference

39 w

ww

.nof.

uk

.com

Portion mugAbbott Laboratories Ltd

PedometerRoche Products Ltd

DVDFrom Alpro

BookWeight Loss ResourcesVo

uch

er

Cer

tifica

teAttendance CertificateObesity: The Scourge of Modern Civilisation!

Monday 6th – Tuesday 7th October 2008The Royal College of Physicians – London

Prof Colin Waine ChairNational Obesity Forum

The National Obesity Forum wishes to acknowledge their gratitude to the following gold sponsors:- Abbott Laboratories Ltd, Roche Products Ltd, Sanofi-Aventis Ltd & GSK. The NOF trading name for Obesity Forum Charity Registration No. 1109600

National Obesity ForumFirst Floor, 6a Gordon Road, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 5LN Tel: 0115 846 2109 Fax: 0115 846 2329 Web: www.nof.uk.com Email: maria@nof.uk.com

Images kindly supplied by www.cutthewaist.com